Taumarunui is a railway and river town in the middle of the North Island, in the hill country that people call the King Country. The name comes from the Māori King Movement, whose leaders took refuge here in the nineteenth century when the land was closed to the colonial government. The Whanganui and Ongarue rivers meet nearby, and the Whanganui, long a canoe highway, flows south from here through deep bush to the sea. The main trunk railway from Auckland to Wellington passes through, and the town grew as a railway stop, with a main street that still has the look of that busy age.
It is also the start of the Forgotten World Highway, State Highway 43, a long and extraordinary road across empty farmland and forest to Stratford in Taranaki, around 150 kilometres. The road climbs over three saddles, through steep gorges and old tunnels, past tiny settlements and farms that look as though the clock stopped. The most famous stop is Whangamomona, a village that declared itself a republic in 1989 after a boundary change, and its old hotel and its passport stamp are part of the fun. The Moki Tunnel is a rough, narrow bore through the hill, and a stretch of the road near Tangarakau is unsealed gravel, so you must watch the surface and reduce your speed.
The riding is slow, twisty and big on character. The bends are tight and often damp, there are few barriers, and the scenery of papa clay hills, tree ferns and sheep paddocks is greener than you expect. Rain is frequent, mist hangs in the gullies, and a cold morning can be icy in the shade, so set off warm and expect to take longer than the distance suggests. Livestock sometimes wander on the road, and wild goats are not unknown.
Fuel is the thing to settle first. Taumarunui is a town of a few thousand with petrol stations and food, and the highway beyond has long gaps with very little in the way of supplies, so fill the tank here and carry something to eat. Stratford is the next proper town on the far side. To the east you can see the snow on Mount Ruapehu on a clear day, a reminder that the volcanic plateau is close.